WKRP In Cincinnati: The Complete Series Review (See Posts #218 & 356 for Info) (1 Viewer)

[AndrewCrossett]

I watched the two versions of "The Contest" one after the other a couple days ago. I hope somebody gets to ask Hugh Wilson about it sometime. But if I had to guess, I'd say they decided the original version of the Fake Don Pesola just wasn't convincing enough. He sounded absolutely nothing like the man on the phone in terms of his vocal tone or mannerisms, and he had a very hurried "give me my money and let me get out of here" attitude. He even mispronounced his own supposed name. Schiavelli's version sounded much more like the real Don Pesola (though without the cough, which is what gave him away to Johnny), he seemed much more comfortable and even had the story prepared about using the money for his wife's operation. With the Schiavelli version, the audience could get taken in for a little while along with Herb and Les. In the original version it was very obvious to the audience from the start that Herb and Les were giving the money away to a con man. In the Schiavelli version, the audience actually groaned with realization when the real Don Pesola walked in.


There were quite a few other changes, too. The "what kind of pants is the criminal wearing?" conversation is between Carlson and a bemused Jennifer in v2 instead of between Carlson and a bemused Andy in v1. The scene where Herb undercuts Andy and gets some of his old responsibility back happens off-screen. Johnny offers to pay back the money ($12.50 a month for 33 years) instead of handing in a letter of resignation, as in the original. And Johnny gets to save the day instead of being on the hook for $5,000 as in the original.


I like the Schiavelli version quite a bit better. (For one thing, the "this man and I have just been fired" gag is one of the funniest moments in the episode). But I'm glad I have the original version too.


It's very surprising, though. It must have cost quite a bit of money to do a re-shoot like that, and WKRP had just come back from a narrowly-averted cancellation. They must have had to do some creative budget-wrangling to pull it off.

 

[Brian Himes]

Questions about episode # 73 "Straight from the Heart"


I distinctly remember a scene where a concerned Les, at the theater, makes a telephone call to Andy at the poker game to get help for Herb. Apparently, Bailey is quite the card sharp and has cleaned out all the guys, which is why a depressed Andy was available to answer the phone. This scene was cut out of all the reruns and not put back into the box set. I kind of feel this should have been put back in, because how did the gang know where Herb and Les were, and that their help was needed? It also adds more to the final moments when they are all in jail and Andy is rooting for Bailey to get the high card.


Was there prominent music playing at the poker game, and that's why they cut it out? Or was this just another edit to make time for ads? If it was music, does anybody remember what song? I was in high school at the time I saw the original and the first rerun, and then I never saw it again.

The person to ask is Jaime Weinman. He's the real expert. I did watch the original version that is on his blog and there is no scene with Les calling Andy. From what I've been able to ascertain, most of the season 4 episodes on his blog he taped himself when they originally aired.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Brian, how many scenes on the DVD are there with the music the original, but the dialogue the dubbed version?

 

[Brian Himes]

I honestly don't know. I have attached a copy of the original post (with all of the appropriate edits to reflect any new information that came to light after the post was made) that you can read. It should answer most of your questions.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Thanks.


I'm really impressed the original version of "Hoodlum Rock" resurfaced. I thought it was lost forever, when the old Fox DVD had the Syndicated version.

 

[Brian Himes]

You're welcome.


If you are just wanting to know about what music is in the series, I have attached a complete list of every piece of music (by episode) that was used on the show. Actually, the list doesn't contain every piece of music used. There is still one tiny piece of music that has not been identified in the episode Carlson For President.

 

[Mr. Handley]

Just watched the Season 2 episode "Herb's Dad" recently. This one had a really weird vibe about it. The studio audience was WAY too quiet for most of the episode....for some of the jokes, there was no reaction at all. Bizarre.

 

[johnnyelectron]

Didn't Bert Parks play Herb Tarlek, Sr.? I wouldn't think he would be afraid of live audiences since he was still doing Miss America at that time, unless he did the show using cue cards/teleprompter and didn't want an audience seeing that at MTM studios?


Some shows in that era would record them on videotape, and then play them back for "audience response" and dub-in the actual studio audience audio from the videotape playback - I can't remember what show did that, but I recall them announcing it in the opening scene, and it may have been an MTM show?

 

[Brian Himes]

The last season of All In The Family was filmed and then shown to a live audience for live reactions. This is stated at the end of each episode. I'm not aware of any of the MTM shows doing this.

 

[johnnyelectron]

Thanks for the A-I-T-F info; I knew that some show did that and announced it, but I was thinking that TAXI, or similar show may have done that for a few episodes as well?

(and maybe "Herb's Dad" had no audience?)

 

[Hasslein]

The Shout! version of Herb's Dad had an unsweetened track, as did A Mile in My Shoes (the wrong audio tracks). You can hear the difference on Jaime's site. Shout made quite a few errors

 

[Hasslein]

You're welcome.


If you are just wanting to know about what music is in the series, I have attached a complete list of every piece of music (by episode) that was used on the show. Actually, the list doesn't contain every piece of music used. There is still one tiny piece of music that has not been identified in the episode Carlson For President.

So the music over the end credits of Baseball was just stock music?

 

[Brian Himes]

This is what Jaime's Blog says about the music in Baseball: This is one of the few episodes to use an original musical score, by Tom Wells, who composed the main title theme.

 

[AndrewCrossett]

I just re-watched "Goodbye Johnny" and noticed one music bit we might add to the master list: when Johnny goes in to Andy's office to tell him about his job offer, he sings a few lines of Irving Berlin's "It's a Lovely Day Today" (from the Broadway show Call Me Madam).

 

[johnnyelectron]

Hey gang= one day special on AMAZON.com TODAY- WKRP set is on sale (Tuesday November 17, 2015) - tell your friends who might have missed out.

 

[Mr. Handley]

I'm about halfway through Season 3 now and although I'm still enjoying the show, it really reminds me that the first year and half was SO good that these episodes seem much weaker. I remember feeling this same way when they originally aired. Some of that magic is just gone and the laughs aren't as plentiful as they were before. Just an observation.

 

[johnnyelectron]

Interesting, as I always thought that other than the Turkey episode, that the 1st season was a little weak (with Les on a ledge), and that it took until the 2-part transmitter explosion episode to realize everyone's unique personality- making that a favorite, along with the episode where Andy is upset with the ratings book where everyone else is excited they moved up but he upset they weren't #1 - I thought all the characters were well established by then, making the show very enjoyable. Maybe that's what makes a great series: everyone likes different parts and seasons for different reasons and memories. Glad the series is out for a new generation to hopefully enjoy what we got to see in its first run and they may have never seen at all.

 

[Hasslein]

I thought season one was weak as well, but season three has those terrible Herb episodes you have to wade through to get to the gems, so it may give the appearance that the magic was gone, but I think it was just misguided until a fourth season rebound.

 

[KPmusmag]

To make it last, I have been watching only one a week. Can't believe it has been a year since the set came out! The last one I watched was Frog Story. In season 3 so far l have especially enjoyed Jennifer Moves, Hotel Oceanview, and Baby It's Cold Inside. Those episodes seem to really capture the essence of the characters particularly well, IMO.

 

[Tony Bensley]

The last season of All In The Family was filmed and then shown to a live audience for live reactions. This is stated at the end of each episode. I'm not aware of any of the MTM shows doing this.

Hi Brian!


As I recall, Carroll O' Connor did the end credits voiceover on that last season, which consisted of "All In The Family was taped with live responses" or something very close to that, which replaced Rob Reiner's "AITF was taped before a live studio audience" voiceover that played over the end credits in the show's prior 7 seasons.


I don't recall any similar announcement being used for WKRP IN CINCINNATI on any of its episodes.


CHEERS!


Tony